Perpetual Paranoia
by UnseenHalloween
Summary: Now that Adam and Lawrence have left the hospital after their experience with Jigsaw, is it paranoia that is haunting Adam? Or has Jigsaw come back to finish what he started?  Hints of AdamxLawrence - rated T mainly for language
1. Somebody There?

Sunlight shone in through the thin white fabric of window curtains, spreading along the leather back of a couch, a bare chest, and then finally over closed eyes. As the sun rose further over the horizon, the light it produced became brighter, causing the eyes to squeeze shut in disapproval. After a few moments, they opened, squinting into the brightness. Blue-grey eyes facing the window, looking into the new day outside.

Adam, the owner of the eyes, groaned as he rolled over, lifting his head off of the chest of the man underneath him. Having no more couch to roll over onto, he plopped to the floor with a small grunt. Sitting up, Adam rested his back against the couch, the leather feeling cool against his bare skin that had been revealed when his shirt had been pulled up slightly while falling onto the ground.

Silent images moved on the TV screen across the room from Adam. He stared at the screen blankly for a few moments before blinking, trying to wake up more. Then, turning slightly, he placed one hand on the coffee table before him and the other on the couch, turning back around to move back up to the raised surface. However, just as he was raising himself up, he froze as he saw the other man on the couch.

The sunlight was now covering Lawrence's face and chest as he continued to sleep on the couch cushions. Adam hadn't remembered falling asleep so close to him and blushed slightly at the thought. He ran his eyes along Lawrence's face and chest, admiring how his skin almost seemed to glow in the sun rays. But then, his eyes flicked downwards, skipping over the blue plaid pajama pants Lawrence wore, to fall onto his right foot. Or at least, where his right foot should have been. Instead of soft skin, there was hard plastic. It was the color of Lawrence's skin, sure. But the obvious stiffness and slight shine it gave off easily proved it was not real skin.

Sighing, Adam looked away, not wanting to remember the events that had happened in that bathroom almost half a year ago. It was thanks to Lawrence that Adam was even alive. By sacrificing his own foot and dragging himself away from that place, he saved him. Adam shuddered at the thought that he could have been left there to rot and die, completely forgotten. As if in response to the memory, without thinking about what he was doing, Adam brought his left hand up to his right shoulder. Luckily, the wound he had received from Lawrence's gunshot had healed for the most part. Although, he still had the stitches in his arm and was told he would have quite a nasty scar due to bad infection.

Both Adam and Lawrence had checked out of the hospital a couple of days earlier and were now in Lawrence's house, continuing to recover together. Adam had been ready to leave the hospital almost three weeks before Lawrence had been, but he insisted that he needed to stay. He hadn't wanted to leave without Lawrence. Once the two of them were in their recovery stage, they shared a hospital room, their beds next to one another's. They had talked quite a bit, getting to know each other and bond more every day.

About a week and a half before they left, Lawrence found out his wife, Alison, wanted a divorce. She told him she was sorry, but couldn't deal with the stress anymore. He reluctantly signed the papers and she informed him that she was moving to another state with their daughter, Diana. He took this second bit of information harder than the actual divorce itself, his daughter being so important to him, but was promised he could see her and she could see him whenever they wanted to.

Adam attempted to help Lawrence feel better, talking to him, telling him it would be okay as they both lay in their hospital beds. It seemed to work after a few days. Either that or Lawrence was just pretending it did. Whether it really helped all that much or not, he managed to push it to the side of his mind as he and Adam bonded further, both finding they were beginning to feel differently about each other. Feeling as if it wasn't friendship they had, but something more.

Between Adam and Lawrence's open conversations, Adam found time to complain about the no smoking rule the hospital had. A few times he had tried to figure out how he could get a cigarette in the hospital, making up his mind that he would smoke even if it was against the rules. But, this failed due to the fact that he wasn't ready to leave the hospital and had no contacts that would be willing to bring him his addiction. He was becoming more irritable without his nicotine, and gave the nurses hell, saying to one of them, "I swear to God… The first thing I'll do once I'm out of here is smoke a whole damn pack…"

A few days before they left the hospital room, Lawrence began to talk about what it would be like to go back home. He had sounded fairly positive at first, looking forward to leaving the hospital, but then had sighed and mentioned that his house would feel empty. Talking without completely thinking it through first, Adam had said he wouldn't mind keeping him company. Lawrence had blushed as soon as Adam suggested this and looked away with a small smile before agreeing. After a few moments he had then laughed, telling Adam, "I'll let you in my house. But you have to promise you won't smoke a whole pack of cigarettes…"

This only received a roll of Adams eyes.

And this is how the two of them ended up where they are now; in Lawrence's large house's living room. Lawrence had begun to wake up slowly behind Adam who was now watching the muted TV screen again, but also on the brink of falling back to sleep, sitting on the floor and leaning against the couch once more.

Adam's eyes were just starting to slowly close again, his head sagging down slightly, but then he heard a small knock. He opened his eyes again and tilted his head back up to look down the hall. Not knowing if he was just hearing things, Adam didn't move, waiting to hear the sound again. Then there it was, the same quiet knocking that seemed to be coming from the front door. Adam hesitated, turning back to look to Lawrence, not sure if he should answer the door.

Lawrence's eye's were still closed, so Adam assumed he was still sleeping and hadn't heard the knocking. Not wanting to disturb Lawrence's much needed sleep, Adam quickly got up as quietly as he could and turned out of the living room starting to make his way down the hall towards the front door. Once he reached it, Adam peered out of the small window by the door, feeling extra cautious after his experience with Jigsaw. Before, he would have just opened the door without a thought. But now, he could never be sure whether or not the person on the other side of the door was a friend, or an unknown being in a pig mask, ready to kidnap him and force him into another one of those so called 'games'.

But now, looking through the window didn't give him any comfort or prove to be helpful at all. From what Adam could see through the small peephole in the frosted glass, the front porch was empty. Standing up and away from the window, Adam reached for the lock on the door. He slowly turned it, unlocking the door, the only barrier of any sick minded person that could be out there. He then moved to the doorknob, placing his hand on it. But before he began to turn that, he bent over to take another look out the window, hoping he might see one of Lawrence's neighbors or something. Still, nobody there_. Big surprise._

Adam stood up again, his hand still on the doorknob. He shook his head to himself, not believing he could be this fearful. _It's probably just a fucking box delivery or something... Geeze Adam, chill out._

Taking in a deep breath, Adam began to open the door very slowly, standing slightly behind it, still feeling the need for some protection just in case there was somebody dangerous out there. Once the door was open far enough, Adam stuck his head out a little ways. There was no box or any sort of delivery item on the porch. He stuck out his head a little farther, looking around to see if there was anyone near that could have been knocking. Still not seeing anyone or anything, Adam pulled his head back in and closed the door much more quickly than the speed in which he had opened it, letting out a long breath that he had been holding in without realizing it.

Adam leaned against the door for just a few moments before standing up straight again and heading back down the hall towards the living room, or more importantly, towards Lawrence. He headed back to his place between the couch and the coffee table and just as he was about to sit down again, Adam saw Lawrence's eye's open and look up to him. "Somebody there?"

Looking down at Lawrence, it took Adam a few seconds to process the words, surprised Lawrence was awake. "What?"

Lawrence let out a sigh now and shook his head with a slight smile. "The door Adam. Was there somebody there?"

"Oh. No, there wasn't." Adam shook his head.

Lawrence gave Adam a quizzical look, "I may have just woken up, but I'm awake enough to tell that there's something bothering you Adam. What is it…?"

Adam let out a long sigh now, not wanting to share with Lawrence what had happened, but knowing from past experience that he should while also not wanting to argue so early in the morning, he just spit it out, "I heard a knock. And there was nobody there when I went to answer it."

Nodding Lawrence answered, wanting to reassure Adam it was nothing, seeing that he seemed to be concerned about it. "Well, I'm sure it was just a neighbor, or a solicitor. Knowing you… you probably just didn't get there fast enough and they left."

Adam nodded to this, agreeing, as Lawrence sat up on the couch. Now that there was room on the sofa for the two of them, Adam sat down on it next to Lawrence. "Yeah… Your probably right."


	2. Just a Stupid Bird

The two sat on the couch in silence for a couple of minutes. Then, patting Adam on the shoulder before stretching and standing up, Lawrence began to hobble out of the room towards the kitchen. Adam couldn't help but frown when seeing the trouble Lawrence had with walking. His mind began to wander, wondering how things could have been different, but he snapped back to reality when Lawrence's voice interrupted them, "I'm going to make us some breakfast. You want anything specific?" Lawrence stood, leaning against a kitchen counter, looking at Adam, waiting for an answer.

Adam shook his head, "Um… cereal would be alright." He paused before adding, "I don't care what kind."

Lawrence sighed and shook his head, giving Adam the same small smile he always did. "Really Adam? Cereal?"

Raising an eyebrow, Adam gave Lawrence a confused look. "What? What's wrong with cereal?" The second question had a somewhat defensive tone added to it.

Chuckling, Lawrence shook his head again, "I can cook Adam. I… used to make nice breakfasts for my family all the time…" He looked down when saying this, obviously still missing his daughter a great deal and possibly his wife. But then he looked back up to Adam, continuing, "So, what will it be? Eggs? Bacon? Maybe waffles?"

Adam gave Lawrence a look as if he were crazy. "You _make_ your breakfast? How do you even have time to when-" He cut himself off, shaking his head to himself, and stood up from the couch, moving over towards Lawrence and the kitchen. "Really… Cereal is good enough for me."

He began to pass Lawrence, heading towards the pantry to see what there was, but Lawrence reached out an arm, stopping him. "Adam, listen… I know you probably used to have cereal all the time and it's what your used to…" He looked Adam directly in the eyes. "I just want to make something for you to eat that's… nicer than your average breakfast."

Letting out a sigh that somehow sounded closer to a groan, Adam rolled his eyes and humored Lawrence answering, "Fine…"Smiling and nodding his head, Lawrence looking expectantly at Adam, still holding him in place. Adam looked to the hand that was still on his shoulder and then back to Lawrence's bright eyes. "What…?"

"You never told me what you wanted to eat. Eggs? Bacon? Waffles? Or maybe even-"

"Yeah, waffles. Go with the waffles." Adam cut Lawrence off with an irritated edge to his voice.

Lawrence nodded again, still smiling, obviously happy to treat Adam to a nice meal even if he didn't appreciate it. He let go of Adam's shoulder and set off to work making his own recipe of waffle mix while Adam sat on a stool at the edge of the granite countertop.

Adam felt his stomach growl, wanting food now. He frowned at Lawrence from his seat as he was working on stirring the waffle mix. "I don't get it… Why take the time to make something…?" He let out a sigh and looked up to the ceiling impatiently. "When I wake up I want to eat right away… This is just annoying…"

Continuing to stir with his back to Adam, Lawrence couldn't help but smile at his small rant and respond, "You're annoying."

Lowering his gaze from the ceiling, Adam returned his eyes to Lawrence again, his frown turning into a bit of a glare. "Your point…?"

Lawrence shook his head and chuckled to himself, enjoying getting on Adams nerves sometimes, finding it humorous to yank his chain every now and then.

Seeing he wouldn't get back an answer, Adam looked away and crossed his arms with a huff. "Whatever…"

After a few more stirs, the waffle mix was ready. Lawrence picked up the bowl and turned around to face Adam and the waffle iron. "Alright." He set the bowl down and looked up to Adam. "Would you like to put them on?"

Adam stood up, drawn by the fact that he was about to eat. He made his way around the counter to Lawrence and the mix as he answered. "You kidding? No thanks." He stuck a finger in the uncooked mix, pulling it out and sticking it in his mouth. "Hm… Not bad."

Lawrence raised an eyebrow. "Adam… why not give it a try?" Adam reached his finger towards the bowl again, but this time Lawrence moved it away from him, ignoring Adam's glare. "You do realize this has raw eggs in it don't you…?"

"…So?"

"So, you could get sick…" Lawrence poured some mix onto the iron.

Adam leaned back on the counter behind them, watching Lawrence. "_Could._ But I won't."

Lawrence turned around to look at Adam after closing the iron. "I don't think you should risk it. It'll make the rest of your day miserable."

"You mean it _could _make the rest of my day miserable." Adam rolled his eyes again. "Whatever Lawrence…"

Shrugging, Lawrence turned back to the iron, not letting Adam's attitude get to him. Adam continued to wait impatiently for the waffles to finish, tapping his fingers against the counter. After just a few minutes the waffles were finished and Lawrence instructed Adam to get a plate out from a cabinet as he removed the newly cooked waffle from the iron.

Once the waffle was finally on Adam's plate, he sat back up on his stool by the counter, smiling slightly, glad to have food ready to eat now. Lawrence took out some butter and syrup, setting it on the counter by Adam's plate. He smiled warmly too him as he said, "Enjoy."

Lawrence watched Adam eagerly as he put some butter and syrup on his food. As Adam picked up his fork, he looked up to Lawrence from the corner of his eyes. "You know, Larry… You just watching me like that… that's a little creepy…"

Smiling Lawrence moved back a couple steps. "Sorry, I just want to see how you like it."

Adam shrugged and cut off a piece of waffle using his fork. He glanced over to Lawrence before looking down at his food and taking a bite of it. After chewing on it for just a couple of seconds, his eyes widened. He quickly finished his first bite and looked down to cut off another piece with his fork. "Lawrence… This is good." He shoved the next bite into his mouth, chewing enthusiastically.

Lawrence grinned, happy to see Adam enjoying his food and feeling as if he achieved something by receiving a compliment. After Adam gulped down the next bite, Lawrence asked him, "Do you think you're going to want another one?"

As Adam began to cut off yet another piece, he nodded quickly, "Oh yeah, definitely. This _is _better than cereal…" Lawrence, even happier now, moved back to the mix and put some more into the iron. Adam swiftly swallowed another bite and added, "I don't think I've had waffles… Well, I mean, I can't remember when I last had them…"

Once Adam had finished the first waffle, Lawrence gave him the next one. Adam hadn't had quite enough room for another full waffle, so Lawrence finished off the rest of it for him while also making another full one for himself.

After eating breakfast, Adam had showered and gotten dressed for the day. He was now waiting for Lawrence to do the same, flipping through TV channels while sitting on the couch once again. After he had decided there was nothing on that he really wanted to watch, he set down the remote, leaving the last show he had changed to on the screen with the volume on low. He then picked up his cigarette pack that was on the coffee table, taking out a cigarette and then his lighter from his pocket.

Adam lit the cigarette and then tossed the pack back onto the table in front of him as he leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes as he breathed in his smoke. He didn't care about the no smoking inside rule Lawrence had created. Lawrence wasn't there to stop him at the moment, and Adam didn't really want to go outside. So, he stayed sitting on the couch, his eyes still closed, listening to the TV noise ramble on quietly.

All of a sudden, there was a loud thud that came from a window in the kitchen. Adam jumped, his eyes snapping open. He sat up quickly and leaned forward to look to the windows in the kitchen. He then relaxed as a thought came to him. _Just a bird. Just a stupid bird._

Adam laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head at his reaction and turning back to the TV. Bringing his cigarette back up to his lips, he began to lean back on the couch once again. But, before he could get comfortable, there was another loud bang on the window in the kitchen. Adam rolled his eyes, "Man birds are stupid…" He stood up, now smiling, a little amused by the thought of two birds running into the same window. "I've gotta see this."

Moving into the kitchen, Adam made his way over to the most likely window a bird would run into, the biggest and cleanest one in the room. The one over Lawrence's small overgrown garden. As he reached it, he moved his head up to the glass, planning to look down and see the two birds. Suddenly, a human hand flew up from below the window, out of Adam's current range of view, appearing to make a grab for him but then only slamming into the window. Adam jumped back with a short mix between a gasp and a startled yell, dropping his cigarette on the floor.

He stood there, unable to move. The hand had gone back down under the window to where it had come from, but Adam didn't dare look again. He was somewhat paralyzed, afraid of thinking about what it could be. Who it could be. Afraid it could be Jigsaw. Afraid it could be someone who _escaped _Jigsaw. What if it was somebody dying? Somebody bleeding down in Lawrence's garden. Adam didn't want to see that. So he stood there, staring at the window, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did happen, and Adam was so focused on the window that he didn't even hear Lawrence coming down the hall behind him. "Alright there Adam?" As Lawrence entered the room, Adam nearly jumped out of his skin. He looked to Lawrence with wide eyes, not answering. Lawrence gave him back a weird look, but then shook his head and walked past him, "You look like you just saw a ghost." He chuckled and then started to say something else. "I'm going to go to Costco. I need to get some-" But he stopped mid sentence. He sniffed the air and then a somewhat horrified expression crossed his face as he saw smoke raising behind Adam. "Adam!"

Lawrence ran past Adam, stomping on the ground where the cigarette Adam had dropped was beginning to burn into the floor. He managed to put out the small cinders quickly and then looked back up to Adam, pissed. "Adam… I told you… I. Do. _Not_… Want _any smoking… In my house._"

Adam stayed standing where he was, glued to the spot, staring at Lawrence with wide eyes and not responding. Lawrence waited just a few moments before his expression changed again, to concern this time. He walked up to Adam, realizing there must really be something wrong after not receiving a biting response. Putting his arm around Adam's shoulders, his voice became more soothing, "Adam… What's wrong…?"

Taking in a shaky breath, Adam just managed to answer, "The garden…. There's… there's somebody in the garden…"

Lawrence looked at Adam, very confused. "What do you mean…?" He looked out the garden window. "There's nobody there Adam."

Adam shook his head. "On… the ground…"

Still looking confused, Lawrence removed his arm from around Adam's shoulders and began to walk towards back door. Although, before he could unlock it, Adam panicked, "No! It could be… What if it's…" His words faded, not wanting to finish the sentence.

Understanding what Adam meant, Lawrence nodded to him, but unlocked the door anyways. "It won't be… It's alright." He then opened the door, stepping outside.

Adam took in a deep breath, holding it, eyes still wide. He took a step towards the door, but then decided against it, moving a few steps away and behind the barrier of a table. It just took a few seconds before Lawrence came back in, shaking his head to Adam. "There's nobody there Adam."

Letting out his breath, Adam stayed where he was. "Y-yes there was!"'

Lawrence shook his head again. "No, there wasn't."

"But… there was a hand… It was hitting the window…"

"And this person… Did you actually see them Adam?"

Adam looked down. "No… I didn't. I thought it was a bird, but… the hand…"

Lawrence closed the door, locking it, and then moved back over to Adam. "Come here…" He held out his arms, gesturing Adam forward. Adam gladly moved into Lawrence's arms as they wrapped around him in a hug. "I'm sure it was a bird… You're just a little jumpy after our… experience…"

Adam nodded, agreeing silently as Lawrence gave him a small kiss on top of his head before releasing him. Once they were separated, Adam didn't look at Lawrence, feeling embarrassed from his reaction. _You had to be comforted by him cuz of some dumb little animal… Pretty pathetic Adam._

Breaking the silence, Lawrence brought up the subject he had tried to earlier. "I'm uh… going to Costco, like I said. I need to get us some more food."

Nodding again, Adam still didn't look Lawrence in the eyes.

Lawrence still looked to Adams eyes as he went on, "I wanted to ask you if you would like to come with me. But after this I'm wondering if-"

"No, I want to go with you. " Adam answered quickly, suddenly looking up to Lawrence, almost as if he were afraid he would disappear. He repeated himself, more calmly this time, "I want to go with you…"


End file.
